Carpenter Brut – Live in Manchester

Here is our ultimate review about a concert of one of the most powerful bands of the dark side of Synthwave, Carpenter Brut. For the first time in what seems like forever the band has arrived in town with his band. Manchester is one of the best hot spots for gigs in England and when the news of Carpenter Brut playing at Academy 2 broke it was a no brainer to buy a ticket. This tour accompanies the recent album Leather Terror which features the likes of Gunship, Greg Puciato, Persha plus others. There was only one support act on the night in the name of Sierra championing from Lazerdiscs Records.

An incredible job as a Support act

Sierra is a dark wave/industrial artist. Lyrically not exactly cheerful, but she did an incredible job as a support act. Unbroken and Gone were the highlights of the night with a small yet very effect light system moving along swiftly with the hard hitting bass she has delivered. The venue was filling up quite rapidly and the audience was met with a very good support set to warm up the crowd for Carpenter Brut. Overall, the sound was probably the most pitch perfect we’ve ever heard from Sierra regarding similar electronic acts we’ve seen.

An epic Reaction from the Audience

Carpenter Brut had a warm up with the iconic track Everybody by Backstreet Boys before laying down some Leather Terror tracks to open up. Whilst we expect a thunderous wall of sound to awaken us all the sound was sadly a little bit off at the beginning, but it did fix itself during Roller Mobster. The set was 20 songs all of them which had an epic reaction from the audience. From the ridiculously catchy hook of Le Perv to the metal infused Imaginary Fire, its a super strong and lengthy setlist which even with 20 songs it had to end. Maniac, which is arguably one of the greatest covers of all time, is the perfect finale; a classic singalong that also commands a wall of death in the mosh pit. The sound was bang on throughout most of the set aside at the start with the guitar sounding slightly quiet through a few of the songs. This perhaps being the only negative thing, but it didn’t derail the performance in any way. The lighting and smoke gave the performance a stadium vibe and we were more impressed with the deck Carpenter Brut himself was on with the logo lighting through the smoke.

A huge Combination of Talent

Carpenter Brut commands one of the most diverse mixtures of culture we’ve ever seen at a gigs where fans of synthwave, heavy metal and others share a room to enjoy one of the best musicians to appear in the electronic scene over the last decade. We looked around the room and everyone is in their element from the front to the back. It’s one of the best crowds we’ve seen in a venue in a size of the Academy 2. Carpenter Brut (9/10) may have finished his tour with his brilliant band and Sierra (8/10) has been a superb support, but both of these artists deserve your time and attention live as being an epic combination of talent that’s worth every penny you have got. Who knows what the future holds for more gigs, but you definitely get your moneys worth with Carpenter Brut.